Up until today I wasn’t willing to say that spring had arrived. I know that once we get to the Vernal Equinox, it’s technically spring, but we weren’t seeing signs of it in things that should be green or blooming.
And then we came to April 9, 2013, and everything that grows is telling us that SPRING IS HERE! We’ve had some pretty bad thunderstorms for the past couple of nights. Thunder and lightening woke me briefly last night, and we could hear heavy rain on the skylights early in the day. The result? Grass greening up, and the squill has formed a tight green mass around one of the trees.
I have Ice Follies daffodils in bloom! There are pods of daffodil greens coming up in all the gardens. Tulips and hyacinths are beginning to show flower development, and the iris are shooting up. I need to add some dirt around the iris corms. Some of them are sitting on top of the dirt, where the soil has eroded away during the winter.
We still haven’t seen herons or egrets this far north. I know they are down near I80, but it’s much warmer there. We’re keeping watch. I think by next week we may see them. Red wing blackbirds, Eastern starlings, starlings, Blue Jays, flocks of robins and house finches have returned. The cardinal songs are loud and long. Chickadees and juncos are still here. I’ll be watching for the visitors who stop off on their way north, like the yellow bellied sap sucker, and the gross-beaks. We rarely get more than a couple off those birds, so it’s really fun to see them visit.
Our house is very clean and tidy. No one has come to see it in the last week, but that’s okay. We have long been confident that it will take us a while to find the right buyer. Meanwhile, we continue to work on the grounds and the basement and the garage. I think we will have time to let the exercise class come for breakfast in May.
I’m ready for the forsythia to bloom, and the star magnolia to burst into flower. I’m eager to see if the new hydrangeas have made it through the winter. I want the trees to shade us from the increasing hours of sunshine. I’m READY!!! Come on, Spring!
Brace yourself for cold, blow, and mixed precipitation. Since you get our weather after we are through with it, I’ll give you a report.
We had small hail and Sunday and, again, last night. I wore “summer clothes” to work, yesterday, and it was 75 degrees when I headed home at about 3:00pm. Three stops slowed me down; but, by the time I arrived home at 4:00pm it was 60 degrees – and – by bedtime it was 37 degrees. I don’t know how low the temperature reached last night; but, there was small hail in the basement window well, just under an inch of water in the rain gage, and the sump pump had been running every few minutes when I arose at 5:30am. Current temperature on our front porch is 28 degrees.
Your flowers/trees/plants sound wonderful. This spate of low temperatures should not daunt them, being of short duration.
Have you started searching for a place to inhabit when your present house sells? (Or…have I forgotten what you’ve already written?)
Ya know, Cop Car, you could have kept some of that weather to yourself! It’s been equally strange here. I thought today was supposed to be a tad bit warmer, but before the sun was fully up we had sleet. So we’re starting out tough, but maybe it will warm just a tad.
Dear Husband goes to the computer every day to do a little searching for homes that are currently for sale which meet our hopes. We won’t be able to make a commitment until we have an offer on this house. We might even have to go to temporary quarters while we look for our house. It’s all more unsettled than I care for, but it will be what it will be. *S*
It is always nice when everything starts greening up and blooming. We still have a couple of weeks before any buds start forming.
We got your thunderstorms Monday and Tuesday nights and then just plain rain on Wednesday night. All that rain helped get rid of a lot of our snow. Then we had sleet Thursday evening then snow yesterday. We were going to pick up the bikes today, but not with snow in the yard.
bogie, I’m trying not to complain about the rain. We really need it after a winter that would suit the Mojave. I’m sure you were happy that the rain cut back some of your snow. Too bad the weather has worked against you this weekend.
It cracks me up that we both get to complain to Cop Car about the weather she is sending our way. Somebody should get blamed for it. Why not her! lol
That’s called “piling on”, Buffy. My shoulders may not be broad, but they are strong. They have to be for me to take the reciprocation to my own jabs!
I am having a gorgeous, mostly-sunny morning, into which I need to venture to do more yard work. As you could see in the photos that I posted of the creeping phlox, I had already pulled weeds from most of my planting/planted areas and had spread some mulch. It is well that I had purchased 60 cubic yards of mulch (in 3 cubic yard bags), early, which meant that I had plenty on hand. I used 4 bags to insulated the irrigation system’s anti-back-flow valve from freezing. It had been serviced while the temps were in the 70s – just hours before the plunge into the 20s.
I am SO surprised that you buy your mulch bagged. I would have thought that you’d have it delivered in a truck. I suppose that you need to keep the yard tidy so that neighbors are not offended by your energetic gardening! lol
Yeah….that was piling on, too. We have finally gotten a warmer day, and it almost feels like spring. DH is sick, and won’t let me care for him. I might actually enjoy some time out policing the lawn. It’s too cold to plant anything, and too wet to do much else.
Our lawn people have the best mulch I’ve ever seen (shredded cedar), and it comes only in bags – even if they are the folks spreading the mulch. They will deliver, if I ask; but, I usually bring 10 bags/trip home in my trunk. I could get 16 bags in by using the back seat (seats fold down to open into the trunk area.) I think in decimals! The pick-up point is only about two miles from home.
Some years ago (4/13/2005) I had a truck load of dirt deliverd – which took about three months for me to get totally distributed. Later that year (9/2/2005 – just after Katrina hit) I had a truck load of sand delivered (which took me at least three months to dispatch). Bags are more easily stored where I want them. Trucks can only dump the bulk stuff in the “back out of the garage here” extension to the drive – making it inconvenient for HH until I get it all removed.
If that’s the only way you can get it, then it’s worth buying it that way. It’s an advantage that you can stack it up and only open it as you need it. We have a mulch pile that the chipmunks make into a habitat. I have grisly thoughts of spearing one when I use the pitch fork to gather mulch for a project. And, you mulch is nice and dry right now, while mine is totally soaked from the rain that’s come through this week!